← All verbs
Verb conjugation

calmer

to calm, pacify, soothe; to calm down, abate, subside

Usage

To calm someone or something down — calmer un enfant qui pleure, calmer le jeu, calmer ses nerfs. Extremely common in the imperative (calme-toi) and in the reflexive se calmer, meaning to calm oneself down.

Examples
  • Calme-toi, tout va bien se passer.Calm down, everything will be fine.
  • Elle a réussi à calmer le bébé qui pleurait.She managed to calm the crying baby.
  • Il faut calmer la situation avant qu'elle empire.The situation needs to be calmed down before it gets worse.
Common mistake

Calme-toi can sound curt or even condescending in French, just as 'calm down' can in English — softer alternatives like respire or prends ton temps land better if you're trying to reassure rather than to order someone.

Simple tenses

Present

jecalme
tucalmes
il/ellecalme
nouscalmons
vouscalmez
ils/ellescalment

Imperfect

jecalmais
tucalmais
il/ellecalmait
nouscalmions
vouscalmiez
ils/ellescalmaient

Past historic (passé simple)

jecalmai
tucalmas
il/ellecalma
nouscalmâmes
vouscalmâtes
ils/ellescalmèrent

Future

jecalmerai
tucalmeras
il/ellecalmera
nouscalmerons
vouscalmerez
ils/ellescalmeront

Conditional

jecalmerais
tucalmerais
il/ellecalmerait
nouscalmerions
vouscalmeriez
ils/ellescalmeraient

Subjunctive

jecalme
tucalmes
il/ellecalme
nouscalmions
vouscalmiez
ils/ellescalment

Subjunctive (imperfect)

jecalmasse
tucalmasses
il/ellecalmât
nouscalmassions
vouscalmassiez
ils/ellescalmassent

Imperative

tucalme
nouscalmons
vouscalmez

Compound tenses

Passé composé

jeai calmé
tuas calmé
il/ellea calmé
nousavons calmé
vousavez calmé
ils/ellesont calmé

Plus-que-parfait

jeavais calmé
tuavais calmé
il/elleavait calmé
nousavions calmé
vousaviez calmé
ils/ellesavaient calmé

Passé antérieur

jeeus calmé
tueus calmé
il/elleeut calmé
nouseûmes calmé
vouseûtes calmé
ils/elleseurent calmé

Futur antérieur

jeaurai calmé
tuauras calmé
il/elleaura calmé
nousaurons calmé
vousaurez calmé
ils/ellesauront calmé

Conditionnel passé

jeaurais calmé
tuaurais calmé
il/elleaurait calmé
nousaurions calmé
vousauriez calmé
ils/ellesauraient calmé

Subjonctif passé

jeaie calmé
tuaies calmé
il/elleait calmé
nousayons calmé
vousayez calmé
ils/ellesaient calmé

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait

jeeusse calmé
tueusses calmé
il/elleeût calmé
nouseussions calmé
vouseussiez calmé
ils/elleseussent calmé

Impératif passé

tuaie calmé
nousayons calmé
vousayez calmé

Other

Present participle

calmant

Past participle

calmé

Infinitive

calmer

Want to practice? Try a conjugation exercise.

Frequently asked questions

What does "calmer" mean?

"calmer" means "to calm, pacify, soothe; to calm down, abate, subside".

How do you conjugate "calmer" in the present tense?

The present of "calmer" is: je calme, tu calmes, il/elle calme, nous calmons, vous calmez, ils/elles calment.

What is the Passé composé of "calmer"?

The passé composé of "calmer" is: je ai calmé, tu as calmé, il/elle a calmé, nous avons calmé, vous avez calmé, ils/elles ont calmé.

What is the Imperative of "calmer"?

The imperative of "calmer" is: tu calme, nous calmons, vous calmez.